


What T'Challa Knows

by AlienofDoom



Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, If You Squint - Freeform, Indecision, T'Challa doesn't know how to be king, maybe pre T'Challa/Bucky
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-06-03
Packaged: 2018-07-11 22:15:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7072627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlienofDoom/pseuds/AlienofDoom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place post Civil War mid-credits scene. T'Challa is now king of Wakanda, but he isn't sure he's doing the right thing for his country in harbouring international fugitives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What T'Challa Knows

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guess what? I'm not the anthropomorphic personification of Marvel Studios, and as such I have no legal claim to these characters (apart from the fair-use doctrine of course).
> 
> I started writing this immediately after I saw Civil War because I desperately needed some T'Challa/Bucky fic to read... and then it kind of shifted away from that into something a bit more introspective... and then it sat on my hard drive for a while.
> 
> Unbetaed, so if it's terrible you know who to blame (me... it's me)
> 
> Anyways here it is! So read it (or don't, I don't care [actually I do, please read it {please}])

T'Chaka had been a great king. Perhaps the greatest king to rule Wakanda in the past century. He was not universally loved, but he was almost as close as it was possible to be. He was well respected, admired by people both under his rule and outside it. T'Chaka knew how to be a good king. A wise king.

T'Challa had studied at his father's feet. Had tried to learn how to be a king that would be worthy of Wakanda. Had attempted to be even half the man his father was.

The lessons didn't always stick, T'Challa knew this. The intricacies of diplomacy and the subtleties of geopolitics slipped past him more often than not. He had trouble understanding why he would need to know these things. In his mind, he would have plenty of time to return and learn what he had missed.

T'Chaka knew that his son would not be the king he was. But his son _would_ be king. And so – more than the art of proper delegation or the methods of modern warfare – T'Chaka endeavoured to teach his son one thing: A king must always think first of his people.

A king should be wise, of course. And a king should be kind, of course. But, and T'Chaka always looked straight in his son's eyes when he said this, a king must always do what is best for his people.

To do this a king need not be kind, it may be that what's best for the people is for the Panther to be the cold justice of the land. And a king need not be wise, as long as he chooses wise friends and listens to their counsel.

But always, always as king must do what is best for his people.

And so it is that now, after his father has gone to his grave far too soon, and the man he'd discovered responsible is imprisoned, T'Challa has time to wonder.

_Is this best for my people?_

He looks behind him into the room of glass where the Soldier sleeps, his Shield as ever by his side.

_Is the war that will come if they are found what is best for my people?_

He had told Steve Rogers that the governments of the world were welcome to try. That Wakanda would fight a war for him.

T'Challa stops and revises his thought. No, not for him, not for Captain America. Worse even. Wakanda would fight a war for the Soldier; for Barnes he would send Wakandans to bleed and die. He was not stupid. Great as the Wakandan army was, strong as its people were, they would not win. A Wakandan soldier was worth ten or twenty of any other nation, but if the entirety of the world was arrayed against them, there was no chance of victory.

All the staff here at the palace knew the risks of course, they had accepted his reassurances that this was not the man who'd killed his father, that this was not the Winter Soldier, simply an old soldier who wished to sleep. They knew what the Russians would do – or worse – what the Americans would do if James Barnes were discovered in their care. But they were but a fraction of his people.

The artists did not agree to this. The scientists had not nodded and given their blessing for the war that would take their children. The shopkeepers – many of whom had never even met a man born outside Wakanda's borders – had not welcomed the American into their country.

But... it was undoubtedly the right action to take. Deep within himself, T'Challa could _feel_ that harbouring the Soldier was what a good king would do. Whatever his past crimes were, they were not _his_ crimes, and T'Challa still felt some shame at his hasty actions after Vienna. To assuage his own conscience and, more importantly, to ensure Wakanda's morality, this was what had to be done.

He thinks.

T'Challa closes his eyes and rubs his temple. He turns from the bank of windows and makes his way back to the room where the Shield guarded the Soldier. The door slides open at his approach and he makes his way inside, trying his best not to disturb the room's sole conscious inhabitant. T'Challa takes a seat.

The two of them sit that way for several more minutes, neither speaking. Each keeping their thoughts to themselves. T'Challa does not know what the Captain thinks of, but he can make a guess. He obviously thinks of his friend the Soldier, once again trapped in ice, once again lost to him. He thinks of his allies in this battle, the Archer, the Sorceress and all the others; he worries for their safety, wishes it would be safer for him to know their locations. The Captain must also be thinking of the Avengers, and wondering how things could have gone wrong.

T'Challa can not know that is what his compatriot is thinking of, but he knows that even if it is not, the Captain's thoughts must be following similar paths. It's not healthy for him to dwell so.

T'Challa stands and rests a hand on the man's shoulder, “Captain, it is growing late. May I suggest that you retire for the night?”

The Captain sighs, “I know. I just... it would feel wrong, you know? So many times I think I've lost Buck. And now he's back. But he's not...” the Captain places his open hand on the thin glass that separates him from his friend, “It just would feel wrong to leave him here all alone is all, I guess.”

“I do not believe your friend would be in favour of you falling into ill-health,” he stops for a moment, “If it would make you feel better, I was planning on staying awake for several hours yet. I see no reason that I cannot accomplish my work here.”

Rogers gives a small smile, “I wouldn't presume to tell the king of Wakanda what to do, but... yeah that would help.” He removes his hand from the glass, leaving his handprint behind in the frost. “Thank you, your Highness.”

“It is no trouble, Captain. Please, rest well.”

T'Challa sits back down as the Captain leaves the room. He retrieves a tablet from the dock by the door and sign-in with his credentials.

His next couple of hours are spent sifting through various communiques and proposals from his council and drafting preliminary responses. There is nothing extremely urgent at this time. It has been long enough that the most immediate issues regarding the incident in Vienna and its outcome have been addressed, but not yet long enough that any more serious proposals have been made.

T'Challa can't help but feel as though it takes longer than it should have, however. He finds himself distracted at the oddest times. It's not unusual for his mind to wander when reading reports about the profit and intake of the Vibranium mine. But whenever his mind wanders so, it turns to the other man in the room. T'Challa had not spent much time with the Soldier (especially if, as he has attempted to do, one tries to disregard all the times they fought), but there was something intriguing about him. _How had such a man earned the utter loyalty of Captain America?_ or even _What kind of man is he_ _ **really**_ _?_ float across his thoughts while he attempts to diplomatically tell his foreign minister why Wakanda will not play any part in the enforcement of the Sokovia Accords despite his father's involvement in their creation.

Eventually, T'Challa accepts that he won't be able to get any more work done this night. His habit these past weeks has been to turn in at this point, but the questions still scratch at him tonight so he does not rise and return the tablet to its charging station. He does not make the trip up three floors to his private rooms.

Instead he decides to indulge his curiosity. He opens a fresh tab in his browser and does a search: _James Barnes_. It takes a bit of poking around but he eventually finds something close to what he's looking for. Beneath the dental practice in Ireland but above the actor is the link he wants. He clicks it.

T'Challa is disappointed by its contents. Barely three paragraphs detail the man's early life before he fell, before “The Winter Soldier”. And even in those paragraphs lie lines such as _Some have even suggested that he was always a Hydra agent, placed as a sleeper within the Howling Commandos._

T'Challa lets a snarl curl onto his lips when he reads that. Little that he knows about the man, he knows the utter ridiculousness of that notion. He exits the page with disgust, determined to find another source of information. Unfortunately however the story repeats itself with every even somewhat promising page he is able to find. Either the information he's looking for is sparse and vague, or so coloured by his time as the Winter Soldier that it's essentially useless.

It's only when the first rays of sunlight start to seep into the room that T'Challa realises he has been up all night. He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs; he stayed up all night to, ultimately, discover nothing and simply further whet his desire to learn.

He stands – and at this he can feel the hours he's spent sitting as his legs protest and his vision briefly darkens – and sets the tablet back in its cradle to charge. He checks his watch _6:10_ he still has enough time to go up to his rooms and get changed before breakfast is served. Before he leaves, T'Challa sets an open palm against the stasis-tube. He looks into the man's face, at peace for the first time in possibly decades and T'Challa knows.

He may not know this man, but T'Challa knows who he is, what he stands for. Bucky Barnes is not the Winter Soldier, now he is one of Wakanda's people. And all of Wakanda will fight for him if need be.

 


End file.
